Sri Lanka absent from SAFF Cup football for first time

By Susil Premalal  

For the first in history, Sri Lanka will not be participating in South Asia’s main football tournament South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Cup 2023 which begins tomorrow (June 21).
Sri Lanka is out of this tournament because of the current FIFA ban placed on Football Sri Lanka (FSL) since January.
India will host the SAFF Championships, which are scheduled to be held at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium from June 21 to July 4, Bangalore, India.
Kuwait will take on Nepal in the opener of Group A, while India will play their first match against Pakistan later on the same day.
Sri Lanka has participated in the SAFF tournament since its inception in 1993 till 2021 emerging champions in 1995 in Colombo.

In Sri Lanka’s absence, Lebanon and Kuwait, despite not being among the SAFF nations, will be participating in the eight-team event after receiving special invitation.
Ranked 101st in the latest FIFA rankings, India are the defending SAFF champions, having won the tournament in 2021 after beating Nepal 3-0 in the final. 
Lebanon (ranked 99) will be the highest-ranked team in the competition followed by India. 
The other nations taking part are Kuwait (143), Nepal (174), Pakistan (195), Maldives (154), Bhutan (185) and Bangladesh (192).